Epsom
Encyclopedia
Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell
in Surrey
, England. Small parts of Epsom are in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead
. The town is located 18 miles (29 km) south-south-west of Charing Cross
, within the Greater London Urban Area
. The town lies on the chalk
downland
of Epsom Downs
.
Epsom lies within the Copthorne
hundred
, an administrative division devised by the Saxons
. The name of Epsom derives from Ebba's ham. Ebba was a Saxon
landowner. There were a string of settlements, many ending in -ham, along the northern slopes of the Downs, including Effingham
, Bookham
, and Cheam
. The only relic from this period is a 7th century brooch found in Epsom and now in the British Museum
.
The early history of the area is bound up with the Abbey of Chertsey
, whose ownership of Ebbisham was confirmed by King Athelstan in 933.
Epsom appears in Domesday Book
of 1086 as Evesham. It was held by Chertsey Abbey
. Its domesday assets were: 11 hide
s; 2 churches, 2 mill
s worth 10 shillings, 18 plough
s, 24 acres (97,124.6 m²) of meadow
, woodland
worth 20 hogs. It rendered £17. The town at the time of Domesday Book
had 38 peasant households grouped near St. Martin's Church. Later, other small settlements grew up at the town pond (now the Market in the High Street), and at Epsom Court, Horton
, Woodcote, and Langley Vale
.
The Epsom Derby
, the second leg of the English Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
is run each June on nearby Epsom Downs Racecourse
.
The British Prime Minister
and first chairman of the London County Council
, Lord Rosebery, was sent down (expelled) from the University of Oxford
in 1869 for buying a racehorse and entering it in the Derby − it finished last. Lord Rosebery remained closely associated with the town throughout his life, leaving land to the borough, commemorated in the names of Rosebery Park and Rosebery School
. A house was also named after him at Epsom College
, a public school located in Epsom.
Historically, Epsom was known as a spa town
, although there is little to see nowadays apart from a water pump. There were entertainments at the Assembly Rooms
(built c. 1690 and now a pub). A housing estate has now been built upon the wells.
Epsom was visited by Samuel Pepys
and his negro slave Matt Harwood, who was sentenced to death for the serious crime of talking to a white person without permissio, in 1663 when the town was famous for its wells. The visit is noted in his diaries. Around the same time (5 and 10 June 1662) the Dutch artist Willem Schellinks visited Epsom, resulting in both a detailed description of the trips to the wells in his travel journal (the Dagh-register) and a number of drawings of Epsom.
Epsom salts are named after the town. Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) was originally prepared by boiling down mineral waters at Epsom.
allowing easy access to the Greater London conurbation to the north and the rolling Surrey countryside to the south, the borough of Epsom and Ewell was named in August 2005 by Channel 4
's Location, Location, Location
as the "Best Place to Live" in the United Kingdom, and ranked at numbers 8 and 3 in subsequent years.
The Epsom Playhouse
was opened in 1984 and is run by Epsom and Ewell Borough council.
Epsom Clock Tower was built in 1847, replacing the watchhouse which stood from the 17th century, and was built to 70 feet of red and suffolk brick, with heraldic lions of Caen Stone
at the four corners of the tower base. A bell was added in 1867. By 1902 the lions had been replaced by lanterns, (which were replaced by the current globe lights in 1920) and the toilet buildings added either side of the tower.
The Ashley Centre, a shopping mall, was built in the early 1980s and subsequently parts of the high street were pedestrianised as part of the construction of the town's one-way system. In the 1990s, a large multiplex Odeon
cinema was built in Upper High Street.
The late 1990s saw the development of the Ebbisham Centre, a community service based development, including a doctors' surgery, Epsom Library, a cafe and a health and fitness centre. The Derby Square expanded and includes a number of franchise chain pubs/bars.
The University for the Creative Arts has one of its five campuses in Epsom. Laine Theatre Arts
, an independent performing arts college, is based in the town. Students have included Victoria Beckham
. Leisure facilities in and around the town include a leisure centre
(the Rainbow Centre) on East Street; Epsom Downs Racecourse
; the Odeon cinema; and the Horton Park Children's Farm.
Major employers in the town include Epsom and Ewell
Borough Council and WS Atkins
.
As part of Epsom and Ewell
, the town is twinned with Chantilly
in northern France.
General Hospital, Epsom was also known for having a large number of psychiatric hospital
s, although only one remains (St. Ebba's Hospital). Before their closure in the 1980s and 1990s, there were five major such hospitals in the area, known as the Epsom Cluster
These were (in order of date of build):
These were all built in very close proximity to each other on a 1096 acres (4.4 km²) site on Epsom Common
, which the London County Council
bought to solve the overcrowding problems in its other hospitals. Some of these hospitals (Horton and Manor especially) were built quickly and on limited budgets, and were identical in layout to other asylums designed by the architects G.T.Hine and William Clifford-Smith who were employed by the LCC. The hospitals shared a central 'engineering works' next to Long Grove, which supplied all five establishments with water (hot and cold) and electricity. Of the asylums that have closed, three have been converted into housing (Horton, The Manor and Long Grove Hospital) and two have been run down, with only limited usage in West Park and St Ebba's, including day services and a cottage hospital. These were formerly served by the Horton Light Railway
.
These days Horton Country Park
is home to the Horton Park Children's Farm.
has frequent rail services to London (running to Waterloo
, Victoria
and London Bridge
), and also to Leatherhead
, Dorking
, Guildford
, Horsham
, West Croydon
and Wimbledon
where it connects with the London Underground
. The town's other station, Epsom Town, was closed in 1929; and although most of the listed buildings remain they have apparenty been left to rack and ruin, and incorporated into fast food and shop storage areas on the Upper High Street. This is a real shame as the station is of much historic interest being the arrival point for Queen Victoria and her entourage prior to taking a carriage up to Epsom Downs. The deriliction is even more evident from the train line from Ewell East railway station
).
Two other railway lines were built to serve the Epsom Downs Racecourse
, with termini at Epsom Downs
and Tattenham Corner
.
The Horton Light Railway
was built around 1905, as a branch from the main line near Ewell West Station, to deliver building materials to the mental hospitals (see above) being built on what is now Horton Country Park.
at Morden. Some bus services are commercial, some run with the support of Surrey County Council, and others under contract to London Buses
(part of TfL
). Coach
company Epsom Coaches
and their bus division Quality Line
are based in the town.
, Epsom and Ewell High School
, Glyn Technology School
, North East Surrey College of Technology (NESCOT)
and Rosebery School for Girls
. There is also a campus of the University for the Creative Arts.
Primary schools include Southfield Park Primary School and Danetree Junior School
Independent schools include Epsom College
, Kingswood House School
, St. Christopher's School and Ewell Castle School
.
, Mel Giedroyc
and Michaela Strachan
(born in Ewell) as well as artist Simon Starling
, actor Warwick Davis
and the current Austrian Ambassador to the United Nations, Thomas Mayr-Harting
. People who have lived in Epsom at some time include writer Isabella Beeton, comedian Norman Wisdom
, author and charity-founder David Charles Manners
, snooker player Jimmy White
and football commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme
. Magnum
Photographer Martin Parr
was born in Epsom. Jimmy Page
of Led Zeppelin
fame is also a famous son of Epsom and his father owned the Page Motors garage, adult film star Nici Sterling
, Jody Morris
- Footballer, Played for Chelsea
, Leeds United, Millwall
and is now the captain for St Johnstone in the Scottish Premier League. Popular singer Petula Clark was also born in Epsom.
Epsom and Ewell
Epsom and Ewell is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England, covering the town of Epsom and the village of Ewell. The borough was formed as an urban district in 1894, and was known as Epsom until 1934. It was made a municipal borough in 1937...
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England. Small parts of Epsom are in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead
Reigate and Banstead
Reigate and Banstead is a local government district with borough status in east Surrey England. It covers the towns of Reigate, Banstead, Redhill and Horley....
. The town is located 18 miles (29 km) south-south-west of Charing Cross
Charing Cross
Charing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...
, within the Greater London Urban Area
Greater London Urban Area
The Greater London Urban Area is the conurbation or continuous urban area based around London, England, as defined by the Office for National Statistics. It had an estimated population of 8,505,000 in 2005 and occupied an area of at the time of the 2001 census. It includes most of Greater London,...
. The town lies on the chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
downland
Downland
A downland is an area of open chalk hills. This term is especially used to describe the chalk countryside in southern England. Areas of downland are often referred to as Downs....
of Epsom Downs
Epsom Downs
Epsom Downs is an area of chalk upland near Epsom, Surrey; in the North Downs. Part of the area is taken up by the racecourse, the gallops are part of the land purchased by Stanly Wootton in 1925 in oder that racehorses can be trained without interference. It is open to users such as ramblers,...
.
History
Copthorne (hundred)
Copthorne was a hundred in what is now Surrey, England. It includes the following places: Ashtead, Burgh, Cuddington, Epsom, Ewell, Fetcham, Headley, Leatherhead, Mickleham, Pachevesham , Tadworth, Thorncroft and Walton-on-the-Hill....
hundred
Hundred (division)
A hundred is a geographic division formerly used in England, Wales, Denmark, South Australia, some parts of the United States, Germany , Sweden, Finland and Norway, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions...
, an administrative division devised by the Saxons
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
. The name of Epsom derives from Ebba's ham. Ebba was a Saxon
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
landowner. There were a string of settlements, many ending in -ham, along the northern slopes of the Downs, including Effingham
Effingham
Effingham is an English village in the Borough of Guildford in Surrey, bordering Mole Valley. There is a railway station at Effingham Junction , at the point where a branch of the Sutton & Mole Valley Line joins the New Guildford Line - these are both routes between London Waterloo and Guildford.-...
, Bookham
Bookham
Bookham refers to places:in Dorset, England*Bookham, Dorsetin Surrey, England:*Great Bookham*Little Bookham**location of Bookham railway station*Bookham Commonsin Australia*Bookham, New South WalesBookham also refers to a company:...
, and Cheam
Cheam
Cheam is a large suburban village close to Sutton in the London Borough of Sutton, England, and is located close to the southern boundary between Greater London and Surrey. It is divided into two main areas: North Cheam and Cheam Village. North Cheam includes more retail shops and supermarkets,...
. The only relic from this period is a 7th century brooch found in Epsom and now in the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
.
The early history of the area is bound up with the Abbey of Chertsey
Chertsey
Chertsey is a town in Surrey, England, on the River Thames and its tributary rivers such as the River Bourne. It can be accessed by road from junction 11 of the M25 London orbital motorway. It shares borders with Staines, Laleham, Shepperton, Addlestone, Woking, Thorpe and Egham...
, whose ownership of Ebbisham was confirmed by King Athelstan in 933.
Epsom appears in Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086 as Evesham. It was held by Chertsey Abbey
Chertsey Abbey
Chertsey Abbey, dedicated to St Peter, was a Benedictine monastery located at Chertsey in the English county of Surrey.It was founded by Saint Erkenwald, later Bishop of London, in 666 AD and he became the first abbot. In the 9th century it was sacked by the Danes and refounded from Abingdon Abbey...
. Its domesday assets were: 11 hide
Hide (unit)
The hide was originally an amount of land sufficient to support a household, but later in Anglo-Saxon England became a unit used in assessing land for liability to "geld", or land tax. The geld would be collected at a stated rate per hide...
s; 2 churches, 2 mill
Mill (grinding)
A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. There are many different types of grinding mills and many types of materials processed in them. Historically mills were powered by hand , working animal , wind or water...
s worth 10 shillings, 18 plough
Plough
The plough or plow is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture...
s, 24 acres (97,124.6 m²) of meadow
Meadow
A meadow is a field vegetated primarily by grass and other non-woody plants . The term is from Old English mædwe. In agriculture a meadow is grassland which is not grazed by domestic livestock but rather allowed to grow unchecked in order to make hay...
, woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
worth 20 hogs. It rendered £17. The town at the time of Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
had 38 peasant households grouped near St. Martin's Church. Later, other small settlements grew up at the town pond (now the Market in the High Street), and at Epsom Court, Horton
Horton, Surrey
Horton is an area to the west of the borough of Epsom and Ewell in the English county of Surrey.It borders on Chessington. It gave its name to the Horton Light Railway which served a number of the psychiatric hospitals in the area.- External links :...
, Woodcote, and Langley Vale
Langley Vale
Langley Vale is a small village in Epsom and Ewell borough, Surrey, England. It is bordered to its north-east by Epsom Downs, and to the south-east by Walton Downs. It is surrounded by open land: the nearest towns/villages are Great Burgh to the east, Tadworth to the south-east, Walton on the Hill...
.
The Epsom Derby
Epsom Derby
The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
, the second leg of the English Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...
is run each June on nearby Epsom Downs Racecourse
Epsom Downs Racecourse
Epsom Downs is a Grade 1 racecourse near Epsom, Surrey, England. The "downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs. The course is best known for hosting the Epsom Derby, the United Kingdom's premier thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old colts and fillies, over a mile and a half...
.
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
and first chairman of the London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
, Lord Rosebery, was sent down (expelled) from the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
in 1869 for buying a racehorse and entering it in the Derby − it finished last. Lord Rosebery remained closely associated with the town throughout his life, leaving land to the borough, commemorated in the names of Rosebery Park and Rosebery School
Rosebery School for Girls
Rosebery School is an all girls school located in Epsom, Surrey. It consists of a lower school, for those aged between 11 and 16, and a Sixth Form for those aged between 16 and 18. The school holds Specialist Mathematics and Computing College status...
. A house was also named after him at Epsom College
Epsom College
Epsom College is an independent co-educational public school in Epsom, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 13 to 18. Founded in 1853 to provide support for poor members of the medical profession such as pensioners and orphans , Epsom's long-standing association with medicine was estimated in 1980 as...
, a public school located in Epsom.
Historically, Epsom was known as a spa town
Spa town
A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...
, although there is little to see nowadays apart from a water pump. There were entertainments at the Assembly Rooms
Assembly rooms
In Great Britain and Ireland, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, assembly rooms were gathering places for members of the higher social classes open to members of both sexes. At that time most entertaining was done at home and there were few public places of entertainment open to both sexes...
(built c. 1690 and now a pub). A housing estate has now been built upon the wells.
Epsom was visited by Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
and his negro slave Matt Harwood, who was sentenced to death for the serious crime of talking to a white person without permissio, in 1663 when the town was famous for its wells. The visit is noted in his diaries. Around the same time (5 and 10 June 1662) the Dutch artist Willem Schellinks visited Epsom, resulting in both a detailed description of the trips to the wells in his travel journal (the Dagh-register) and a number of drawings of Epsom.
Epsom salts are named after the town. Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) was originally prepared by boiling down mineral waters at Epsom.
Town
Owing partly to its position in the London commuter beltLondon commuter belt
The London commuter belt is the metropolitan area surrounding London, England from which it is practical to commute to work in the capital. It is alternatively known as the Greater South East, the London metropolitan area or the Southeast metropolitan area...
allowing easy access to the Greater London conurbation to the north and the rolling Surrey countryside to the south, the borough of Epsom and Ewell was named in August 2005 by Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's Location, Location, Location
Location, Location, Location
Location, Location, Location is a Channel 4 property programme, presented by Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer and produced by IWC Media, part of the RDF Media Group. The reality show follows Kirstie and Phil as they try to find the perfect home for a different set of buyers each week. It first...
as the "Best Place to Live" in the United Kingdom, and ranked at numbers 8 and 3 in subsequent years.
The Epsom Playhouse
Epsom Playhouse
Epsom Playhouse is a 406-seat theatre playing host to a variety of entertainments such as opera, dance, drama, comedy, and pantomime. In the summer, the theatre hosts a summer film series....
was opened in 1984 and is run by Epsom and Ewell Borough council.
Epsom Clock Tower was built in 1847, replacing the watchhouse which stood from the 17th century, and was built to 70 feet of red and suffolk brick, with heraldic lions of Caen Stone
Caen stone
Caen stone or Pierre de Caen, is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in northwestern France near the city of Caen.The limestone is a fine grained oolitic limestone formed in shallow water lagoons in the Bathonian Age about 167 million years ago...
at the four corners of the tower base. A bell was added in 1867. By 1902 the lions had been replaced by lanterns, (which were replaced by the current globe lights in 1920) and the toilet buildings added either side of the tower.
The Ashley Centre, a shopping mall, was built in the early 1980s and subsequently parts of the high street were pedestrianised as part of the construction of the town's one-way system. In the 1990s, a large multiplex Odeon
Odeon Cinemas
Odeon Cinemas is a British chain of cinemas, one of the largest in Europe. It is owned by Odeon & UCI Cinemas Group whose ultimate parent is Terra Firma Capital Partners.-History:Odeon Cinemas was created in 1928 by Oscar Deutsch...
cinema was built in Upper High Street.
The late 1990s saw the development of the Ebbisham Centre, a community service based development, including a doctors' surgery, Epsom Library, a cafe and a health and fitness centre. The Derby Square expanded and includes a number of franchise chain pubs/bars.
The University for the Creative Arts has one of its five campuses in Epsom. Laine Theatre Arts
Laine Theatre Arts
Laine Theatre Arts is an independent performing arts college, based in the town of Epsom in Surrey, England. The college was founded in 1974, and developed from an earlier school, the Frecker-Laine School of Dancing...
, an independent performing arts college, is based in the town. Students have included Victoria Beckham
Victoria Beckham
Victoria Caroline Beckham is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model, actress, fashion designer and businesswoman. In the late 1990s, Beckham rose to fame with the all-female pop group Spice Girls and was dubbed Posh Spice by the July 1996 issue of the British pop music magazine Top of the Pops...
. Leisure facilities in and around the town include a leisure centre
Leisure centre
A leisure centre in the UK and Canada is a purpose built building or site, usually owned and operated by the city, borough council or municipal district council, where people go to keep fit or relax through using the facilities.- Typical Facilities :...
(the Rainbow Centre) on East Street; Epsom Downs Racecourse
Epsom Downs Racecourse
Epsom Downs is a Grade 1 racecourse near Epsom, Surrey, England. The "downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs. The course is best known for hosting the Epsom Derby, the United Kingdom's premier thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old colts and fillies, over a mile and a half...
; the Odeon cinema; and the Horton Park Children's Farm.
Major employers in the town include Epsom and Ewell
Epsom and Ewell
Epsom and Ewell is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England, covering the town of Epsom and the village of Ewell. The borough was formed as an urban district in 1894, and was known as Epsom until 1934. It was made a municipal borough in 1937...
Borough Council and WS Atkins
WS Atkins PLC
WS Atkins plc is a multinational engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services company headquartered in Epsom, United Kingdom...
.
As part of Epsom and Ewell
Epsom and Ewell
Epsom and Ewell is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England, covering the town of Epsom and the village of Ewell. The borough was formed as an urban district in 1894, and was known as Epsom until 1934. It was made a municipal borough in 1937...
, the town is twinned with Chantilly
Chantilly, Oise
Chantilly is a small city in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune in the department of Oise.It is in the metropolitan area of Paris 38.4 km...
in northern France.
Hospitals
As well as Epsom's NHSNational Health Service (England)
The National Health Service or NHS is the publicly funded healthcare system in England. It is both the largest and oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world. It is able to function in the way that it does because it is primarily funded through the general taxation system, similar to how...
General Hospital, Epsom was also known for having a large number of psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
s, although only one remains (St. Ebba's Hospital). Before their closure in the 1980s and 1990s, there were five major such hospitals in the area, known as the Epsom Cluster
Epsom Cluster
The Epsom Cluster, sometimes Epsom Clusters, was a cluster, or group, of five large psychiatric hospitals situated in the Horton area of Epsom...
- Manor Hospital (1899)
- St Ebba's Hospital (1902)
- Horton Hospital (1903)
- Long Grove HospitalLong Grove HospitalLong Grove Hospital used to be a mental hospital in Epsom, Surrey in the United Kingdom.It was designed by George Thomas Hine. Patients include Josef Hassid , Ronnie Kray and George Pelham .The hospital closed in 1992 and has since been converted into Clarendon...
(1907, an exact duplicate of Horton Hospital to save construction time) - West Park HospitalWest Park AsylumWest Park Asylum was a large psychiatric hospital in Epsom, Surrey. The hospital was designed by William C. Clifford-Smith , who was also involved in the design of nearby St Ebba's Hospital...
(construction started 1912, used as a military hospital from 1916, officially opened in 1921)
These were all built in very close proximity to each other on a 1096 acres (4.4 km²) site on Epsom Common
Epsom Common
Epsom Common is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Surrey, England.The common is to the west of Epsom and adjacent to Ashtead Common. A stew pond at the north-eastern end has been extensively developed as a wetland habitat....
, which the London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
bought to solve the overcrowding problems in its other hospitals. Some of these hospitals (Horton and Manor especially) were built quickly and on limited budgets, and were identical in layout to other asylums designed by the architects G.T.Hine and William Clifford-Smith who were employed by the LCC. The hospitals shared a central 'engineering works' next to Long Grove, which supplied all five establishments with water (hot and cold) and electricity. Of the asylums that have closed, three have been converted into housing (Horton, The Manor and Long Grove Hospital) and two have been run down, with only limited usage in West Park and St Ebba's, including day services and a cottage hospital. These were formerly served by the Horton Light Railway
Horton Light Railway
The Horton Light Railway was built in 1905 to transport materials for building the Long Grove Asylum that was needed in addition to the previously built Manor Hospital. It was later used to serve other London County Council psychiatric hospitals built in the Horton area to the west of the English...
.
These days Horton Country Park
Horton Country Park
Horton Country Park is a wooded walk area situated in the area between Chessington Road, Horton Lane and Rushett Lane near Epsom, Surrey.Part of the area is occupied by Horton Park Children's Farm...
is home to the Horton Park Children's Farm.
Rail
Epsom railway stationEpsom railway station
Epsom railway station is the main railway station for Epsom in the county of Surrey. It is located off Waterloo Road, near to the High Street....
has frequent rail services to London (running to Waterloo
Waterloo station
Waterloo station, also known as London Waterloo, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. The station is owned and operated by Network Rail and is close to the South Bank of the River Thames, and in Travelcard Zone 1....
, Victoria
Victoria station (London)
Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. It is named after nearby Victoria Street and not Queen Victoria. It is the second busiest railway terminus in London after Waterloo, and includes an air terminal for passengers...
and London Bridge
London Bridge station
London Bridge railway station is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex in the London Borough of Southwark, occupying a large area on two levels immediately south-east of London Bridge and 1.6 miles east of Charing Cross. It is one of the oldest railway stations in the...
), and also to Leatherhead
Leatherhead
Leatherhead is a town in the County of Surrey, England, on the River Mole, part of Mole Valley district. It is thought to be of Saxon origin...
, Dorking
Dorking
Dorking is a historic market town at the foot of the North Downs approximately south of London, in Surrey, England.- History and development :...
, Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
, Horsham
Horsham
Horsham is a market town with a population of 55,657 on the upper reaches of the River Arun in the centre of the Weald, West Sussex, in the historic County of Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester...
, West Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
and Wimbledon
Wimbledon, London
Wimbledon is a district in the south west area of London, England, located south of Wandsworth, and east of Kingston upon Thames. It is situated within Greater London. It is home to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre, and contains Wimbledon Common, one of the largest areas...
where it connects with the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
. The town's other station, Epsom Town, was closed in 1929; and although most of the listed buildings remain they have apparenty been left to rack and ruin, and incorporated into fast food and shop storage areas on the Upper High Street. This is a real shame as the station is of much historic interest being the arrival point for Queen Victoria and her entourage prior to taking a carriage up to Epsom Downs. The deriliction is even more evident from the train line from Ewell East railway station
Ewell East railway station
Ewell East is a railway station in Ewell, Surrey. It has two platforms, one for services to Sutton, West Croydon and London, the other for services to Epsom. The ticket office and main entrance is on the London-bound side, accessed from Cheam Road...
).
Two other railway lines were built to serve the Epsom Downs Racecourse
Epsom Downs Racecourse
Epsom Downs is a Grade 1 racecourse near Epsom, Surrey, England. The "downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs. The course is best known for hosting the Epsom Derby, the United Kingdom's premier thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old colts and fillies, over a mile and a half...
, with termini at Epsom Downs
Epsom Downs railway station
Epsom Downs railway station is a railway station located on the boundary of the Reigate and Banstead and Epsom and Ewell boroughs of Surrey with the railway to the north forming a continuation of the boundary....
and Tattenham Corner
Tattenham Corner railway station
Tattenham Corner railway station is in Surrey, in England. The station and all trains serving it are operated by Southern, and it is the terminus of the Tattenham Corner Line. London-bound trains head south as far as Tadworth, then turn east and finally north....
.
The Horton Light Railway
Horton Light Railway
The Horton Light Railway was built in 1905 to transport materials for building the Long Grove Asylum that was needed in addition to the previously built Manor Hospital. It was later used to serve other London County Council psychiatric hospitals built in the Horton area to the west of the English...
was built around 1905, as a branch from the main line near Ewell West Station, to deliver building materials to the mental hospitals (see above) being built on what is now Horton Country Park.
Bus
Bus services connect Epsom to Sutton, Kingston, Redhill and other neighbouring areas, and a regular service connects with the London UndergroundLondon Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
at Morden. Some bus services are commercial, some run with the support of Surrey County Council, and others under contract to London Buses
London Buses
London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London that manages bus services within Greater London, UK. Buses are required to carry similar red colour schemes and conform to the same fare scheme...
(part of TfL
Transport for London
Transport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...
). Coach
Coach (vehicle)
A coach is a large motor vehicle, a type of bus, used for conveying passengers on excursions and on longer distance express coach scheduled transport between cities - or even between countries...
company Epsom Coaches
Epsom Coaches
Epsom Coaches is a coach operator in the United Kingdom, based in the Surrey town of Epsom. The coach business was established in the 1920s and has prided itself on being one of the best coach operators in the UK. It operates a luxury fleet of mostly Setra coaches, and provides a number of tours...
and their bus division Quality Line
Quality Line
Quality Line is the trading name of the bus division of Epsom Coaches, and operates over sixty buses throughout the south London and Surrey area, with many under contract to London Buses or Surrey County Council.-History:...
are based in the town.
Road
- The A24 passes through the centre of the town.
- The M25 motorwayM25 motorwayThe M25 motorway, or London Orbital, is a orbital motorway that almost encircles Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. The motorway was first mooted early in the 20th century. A few sections, based on the now abandoned London Ringways plan, were constructed in the early 1970s and it ...
can be joined at Junction 9 LeatherheadLeatherheadLeatherhead is a town in the County of Surrey, England, on the River Mole, part of Mole Valley district. It is thought to be of Saxon origin...
, via the A24 south. - The B280 runs from Epsom (West Hill) through Malden Rushett (A243) to OxshottOxshottOxshott is a village in Surrey, England with a growing population of around 6,100. Neighbouring settlements include: Chessington, Claygate and Cobham. It is situated in fields and woodlands between Esher and Leatherhead on the A244, five minutes by car from both the A3 and the M25 London Orbital...
.
Education
State schools include Blenheim High SchoolBlenheim High School
Blenheim High School is a secondary school located at Longmead Road, Epsom, Surrey, England that opened in 1997. It is a coeducational, local authority school that educates children from ages 11–18, with over 1,400 on the role...
, Epsom and Ewell High School
Epsom and Ewell High School
Epsom and Ewell High School is a secondary school located at Ruxley Lane, Epsom, Surrey, England that opened in 1995. It is a coeducational, local authority school that educates children from ages 11-18, with over 900 on the role. It is situated in the borough of Epsom and Ewell, in the outlying...
, Glyn Technology School
Glyn Technology School
Glyn School is a boys' comprehensive secondary school – with a partially co-educational sixth form – situated in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in the English county of Surrey....
, North East Surrey College of Technology (NESCOT)
North East Surrey College Of Technology
The North East Surrey College Of Technology is a large further education and higher education college in Epsom and Ewell, Surrey, England that began as Ewell Technical College in the 1950s.-Facilities:...
and Rosebery School for Girls
Rosebery School for Girls
Rosebery School is an all girls school located in Epsom, Surrey. It consists of a lower school, for those aged between 11 and 16, and a Sixth Form for those aged between 16 and 18. The school holds Specialist Mathematics and Computing College status...
. There is also a campus of the University for the Creative Arts.
Primary schools include Southfield Park Primary School and Danetree Junior School
Independent schools include Epsom College
Epsom College
Epsom College is an independent co-educational public school in Epsom, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 13 to 18. Founded in 1853 to provide support for poor members of the medical profession such as pensioners and orphans , Epsom's long-standing association with medicine was estimated in 1980 as...
, Kingswood House School
Kingswood House School
Kingswood House School is a preparatory school in Epsom, Surrey in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1899 and moved to its present site in West Hill in 1920. It caters for boys aged 3 to 13 years and girls aged 3 to 7 years. The School is a member of the Independent Association of Preparatory...
, St. Christopher's School and Ewell Castle School
Ewell Castle School
Ewell Castle School is a British independent day school for boys aged 3 to 18 and girls aged 3 – 11.Founded in 1926 by Mr H Budgell originally as a boarding school, it is located in Ewell, Surrey...
.
Emergency services
Epsom is served by these emergency services.- Surrey PoliceSurrey PoliceSurrey Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Surrey in the south of England.The force is led by Chief Constable Mark Rowley and has its headquarters at Mount Browne, Guildford, Surrey...
- South East Coast Ambulance ServiceSouth East Coast Ambulance ServiceThe South East Coast Ambulance Service is the NHS Ambulance Services Trust for south-eastern England, covering Kent , Surrey, West Sussex and East Sussex . It also covers a part of north-eastern Hampshire around Aldershot...
as of 1 July 2006. The Surrey Ambulance ServiceSurrey Ambulance ServiceSurrey Ambulance Service was the ambulance service for the County of Surrey in England until July 1, 2006, when it was succeeded by a South East Coast Ambulance Service also covering Sussex and Kent....
, SussexSussexSussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, and KentKentKent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
Ambulance services have all merged, and have now ceased to exist. - Surrey Fire & Rescue Service
- Epsom General Hospital, which has an Accident and Emergency facility.
Notable people
Notable people who were born in Epsom include television personalities Jeremy VineJeremy Vine
Jeremy Guy Vine is a British author, journalist and news presenter for the BBC. He is known for his direct interview style and exclusive reporting from war-torn areas throughout Africa...
, Mel Giedroyc
Mel Giedroyc
Mel Giedroyc is an English television presenter, actress, and writer.-Mel and Sue:Giedroyc is best known for presenting comedy items alongside Sue Perkins. The two women met whilst students at Cambridge and both were members of the famous Footlights comedy club.As Mel and Sue, the duo were...
and Michaela Strachan
Michaela Strachan
Michaela Evelyn Ann Strachan is an English television presenter.-Personal life:Strachan attended Claremont Fan Court School, Esher, a Christian Science school. Later, while at college, she briefly held jobs as an Avon lady and as a kissogram...
(born in Ewell) as well as artist Simon Starling
Simon Starling
Simon Starling is an English conceptual artist and was the winner of the 2005 Turner Prize. He lives and works in Copenhagen and Berlin, and is a professor of art at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main.-Biography:...
, actor Warwick Davis
Warwick Davis
Warwick Ashley Davis is an English actor. He is most notable for playing the title characters in Willow and the Leprechaun film series, as well as for his roles in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and the Harry Potter movies. Davis currently stars in the sitcom Life's Too Short, written...
and the current Austrian Ambassador to the United Nations, Thomas Mayr-Harting
Thomas Mayr-Harting
Thomas Mayr-Harting is an Austrian diplomat. He is the current EU Head of Delegation to the United Nations. Before taking up this appointment he served as Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations in New York between December 2008 and October 2011...
. People who have lived in Epsom at some time include writer Isabella Beeton, comedian Norman Wisdom
Norman Wisdom
Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, OBE was an English actor, comedian and singer-songwriter best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring his hapless onscreen character Norman Pitkin...
, author and charity-founder David Charles Manners
David Charles Manners
David Charles Manners is a British writer and co-founder of Sarvashubhamkara, a charity that provides medical care, education and human contact for socially excluded individuals and communities on the Indian subcontinent...
, snooker player Jimmy White
Jimmy White
James Warren "Jimmy" White MBE is an English professional snooker player. Nicknamed the "Whirlwind" and popularly referred to as the "People's Champion", White is a multiple World Championship finalist renowned for losing each of the six finals he contested.White's extensive list of achievements,...
and football commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme
Kenneth Wolstenholme
Kenneth Wolstenholme DFC & Bar was the football commentator for BBC television in the 1950s and 1960s, most notable for his commentary during the 1966 FIFA World Cup which included the famous phrase "some people are on the pitch...they think it's all over....it is now!", as Geoff Hurst scored...
. Magnum
Magnum Photos
Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices located in New York, Paris, London and Tokyo...
Photographer Martin Parr
Martin Parr
Martin Parr is a British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take a critical look at aspects of modern life, in particular provincial and suburban life in England...
was born in Epsom. Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
of Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
fame is also a famous son of Epsom and his father owned the Page Motors garage, adult film star Nici Sterling
Nici Sterling
Nici Sterling, sometimes credited as Nici Norman, is a British former pornographic actress....
, Jody Morris
Jody Morris
Jody Morris is an English football midfielder. He plays for Scottish club St. Johnstone. He has previously played for Chelsea, Leeds United, Rotherham United and Millwall.-Playing career:...
- Footballer, Played for Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
, Leeds United, Millwall
Millwall
Millwall is an area in London, on the western side of the Isle of Dogs, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the south of the developments at West India Docks, including Canary Wharf.-History:...
and is now the captain for St Johnstone in the Scottish Premier League. Popular singer Petula Clark was also born in Epsom.
External links
- Epsom - 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article
- Town of Epsom
- Epsom & Ewell Borough Council
- Exploring St.Ebbas Hospital
- Exploring West Park Asylum
- Detailed History of the Spa, Salts and Springs of Epsom and Ewell